Robie Benve Art

"Circle of Life" 10"x10" paper, fibers, markers and acrylic on wood. Available on my website During the making of “Circle of Life” I experimented with intuitive painting and mixed media.  There are lots of layers of paper, fibers, markers, and acrylic paint. As I worked on it, it kept changing. Sometimes, I fall in love with some details in the early stages, and it's hard to let them go and cover them up with the next layers. The great thing is that, even when a layer is covered up, it served by informing the process, and some parts of it might still be visible at the end, contributing to the overall look of a piece. April 2020, what a time in our lives! To all that are stuck at home waiting anxiously for the end of the social isolation, I wish you good health, love, and peace.  I hope you get many opportunities to enjoy the little things.  Some aspects of what we are experiencing now will make us better people, we might even miss parts of th...

Birch Trees I Birch Trees II Birch Trees III    I made this trio a few months ago as a way to experiment with mixed media and color. The texture and the orange sky colors are created by some fancy special papers that we artists like to splurge on. Then there is paint, more paper, and some patterns created with my hand-cut stencils, In short, they were a fun experiment, and I really like the outcome. The three paintings, which could be purchased individually or as a set, are currently on view at the Marcia Evans Gallery in the Columbus Short North, 8 E Lincoln Ave.

"Natural Wonder" 8"x8" Mixed media: acrylic, paper, markers, and fibers. Available on my website This little guy (20 x 20 cm) is part of a small series of mixed media landscape painting done from my imagination, with no reference photo, all very similar in composition. I started creating the composition with paint and paper on a wooden panel, then I added several layers of tissue paper and paint. I also added some fibers to create the tree trunks. Below is an mid-stage photo of the process. Mid-stage work in progress creation of Natural Wonder. In this particular piece I wanted to preserve the pattern of the confetti tissue paper, so I added several layers of transparent acrylic fluid paint from Golden. The final result is very textural and has a lot of interesting marks. To apply the paper and the fibers I use acrylic soft gel medium from Golden. It serves as a glue, but it's a high quality acrylic binder, pretty much it's like acry...

Like many others of mine, this painting started with a colorful abstract mixed media base. I love to let the initial spontaneous (and crazy) elements provide a guide to the intuitive process of creating the next layers.  As I added layers of color, mainly with a palette knife, I allowed some of the base to peek through. The resulting work is vibrant and happy. The unexpected colors add visual interest and catch the viewer's attention.  "Spring River" 8x8 inches Acrylic and paper on wood panel. SOLD You can see the initial base below. I used colored and patterned paper, acrylic paint, and my unique hand-cut stencils to create a totally random ground with fun patterns and bold colors. Thy all somehow contribute to the creation of moments of surprise and fun that carry through to the final painting.  The kind-of-crazy starting point for Spring River: paper and acrylic paint. Thanks for reading, blessing! :) Sold! Thank you so much to the wonderful...

"Breathing" 8"x10" Mixed Media on panel Sold A painting from when I finally got over the shock of becoming allergic to oils and took the courage to paint en plain air with acrylic and mixed media. I loved creating this baby at Hoover Reservoir Park. The day started foggy and gray and I almost did not go out to paint. Once there, the sun came out and made it a very enjoyable experience. First, I created an abstract and colorful mixed media under-painting with paper, acrylic gel, and hand-cut stencils. Then, I picked my subject and started painting with acrylic paint and palette knife. I love how loose it came out and how the bright under-painting glows through in several spots. I think I've found a great way to use acrylics outdoors. They dry so quickly that I thought it was impossible, but this technique makes it faster and doable. Yay!!

Today I did something a little different for my 20-minute challenge. I used an abstract underpainting that I had ready in the studio, on a panel a bit bigger than the previous days, you can see how it looked like below. I went from a 6x6 to a 8x8. It does not seem like much of a difference but it's a good 28 extra square inches that need to be covered with paint in the same 20 minutes. The abstract base made it a little more challenging, but also so much fun! I stretched a little the rules and worked some extra minutes after the timer went off. I just needed a few extra touches. :) Here is the final painting. "Spring River" 8"x8" Mixed Media on panel, acrylic and paper $80 Do you want to see the abstract mixed media base from which I started? Here it is :) Made with paper, acrylic paint, and custom hand-cut stencils. Mixed media abstract underpainting acrylic and paper Fun!

"Going With the Flow II" 6"x6" acrylic on board $45 Second day of quick painting challenge, I had to make two pieces to actually end up with one that I liked. So I got double practice today, yay me. :) I really like the looseness of the strokes and the colors of this study.

Daily Painting Challenge Ok, this time is not a 30 paintings in 30 days challenge, this is a challenge that says "paint fast, with no time to overthink it, create a painting in 20 minutes, with no pressure to create a masterpiece, just get it done and practice quick decision making and fuss-less application. Do it for five days in a row." And day one is DONE!  :) I painted this on a 6"x6" wood panel, using acrylic paint. It took me a few extra minutes, but I was in a room with other painters and we were having a nice conversation, so I cut myself a little slack. Here it is.... "Purple Trees" 6"x6" acrylic on wood panel Daily Challenge: a 20-minute painting $45 The questions that go through my head at the end of the process: Is if finished? Do I like it? Would I call it successful? Sometimes the answers are not that straight forward, it might take a few days without looking at the painting and then, when I see it with fresh e...

"Hopes and Smiles" 12'x12" Oil on  linen panel in floater frame Sold Another en plein air landscape painting of the Park of Roses, in Clintonville, OH. I did this one day after the previous post. I really loved that tall tree with cool colors, and I enjoyed the challenge of painting it, as well as the sprinkles of the fountain.

"New Buds of Joy" Oil on linen panel in floater frame 9"x12" Sold A Plein air landscape painting of the Park of Roses in Clintonville, OH. The roses were blooming that week, and the whole experience of being at the park was really joyful. I had a lot of fun painting with palette knives. It creates a nice texture, and it keeps me out of the temptation of adding too many details.

Last week an artist friend saw my latest paintings and told me that the colors reminded him of Wolf Kahn's work. Uh? Honestly I had no idea of how his work looked like, so I googled it and... I loved his colors and the simple shapes in the composition. Here is a small painting inspired by what I saw. "Standing Tall" 6"x6" Mixed Media on canvas $40 Thanks for stopping by.

Here is a colorful abstract painting that took several days to finish, mainly due to the size and the many layers of paint, paper, fibers, stencils, etc. setting my 30 paintings in 30 days on a slow mode. "Sunbright" 24"x24" Mixed media on canvas SOLD Below are some images showing the Step-by-Step of the initial stages, with a super random abstract design that I used as starting point. Stage 1 Random abstract shapes I still had no idea of what the painting would become. I was just trying to create some interesting patterns. Stage 2 I decided I wanted to make it a landscape with trees and a stream. I start drawing the main lines of the landscapes, that at this point may seem to add confusion, but they make sense to me. Stage 3 I get out my custom made stencils and start adding patterns for the leaves, the water, and the grass. Can you see them? It's still confusing... Some detail shots. I used thread from an old fabr...

Ahhh, Spring! I hadn't painted outdoors in a while!! (I'm a little late posting this, but it has been a busy few weeks)  Spring in Ohio is crazy, you never know what you are going to get, one day it may be in the 70s and the day after it may snow. Planning an outdoors painting session is always risky. First Pein Air Outing: Pickerington Ponds Metro Park My first day of plein air painting in 2018 was on March 29, very early on the calendar, and I was a little worried about it; you are very likely to get a snow blizzard in Ohio at the end of March. However, it turned out to be a gray and rainy day, but not too cold. I met with a group of eager artists, lead by the awesome teacher: Joseph Lombardo, in Pinkerington Ponds Metro Park. Joe always does a demo at the beginning of class, then the group breaks out and we each start our own painting.  Since I've taken Joe's plein air classes several times now, I decided to paint along during the demo, instead of sitti...

In September I committed to painting 30 paintings in 30 days, or at least getting as close as I could to painting every day. I ended up doing pretty good, considering how busy the month was. You can read the blog post with a photo of the whole "production" here . A few of the September paintings were done by covering up an old painting that I didn't like. And... oh boy!!!     I think that triggered the one single most important thing I discover about myself in September: I love starting from a complex ground, that has texture, shapes, and different colors.  I enjoy the challenge of keeping some of the under-painting showing though in between brush strokes.  It keeps the painting loose and creates interesting visual effects. And it feels finished much sooner, preventing the most popular mistake for all painters: over-painting. Below you can see how I turned an old plein air landscape into a new one, step-by-step. Over There - Painting Over an Old Unfav...

Today I went out to paint with a group lead by the talented artist Joe Lombardo and we painted at the Whetstone Metro Park, in Columbus, OH. Sadly, today was the last outing of this session, but the good thing is that we managed to squeeze in a one-hour demo by Joe, a critique session with pot-lock, and a little less than a couple of hours of individual painting. Yay us! I had brought with me several panels with old paintings that plan to paint over, and I picked a small 5"x7" panel as the paint-over candidate of the day. Starting from a previously painted panel that I don't like, frees me in several ways.  First of all I have no fear of ruining it, it can't get much worse than something I don't like, right? So I paint with less fear, and it helps me keeping the strokes fresh and loose. One other advantage is that the canvas is already covered in paint, and I can use the specks of the old painting showing through in between strokes, and make them work for ...

"See You Later" 24"x24" Oil on Canvas $650 Inniswood Gardens is a wonderful Park in Westerville, Ohio. I love to go there and walk around, on my own, with friends, and also with my kids. The park has several different areas, with specific habitats, and environments, and nice areas for kids to play, including a great tree house. Anyway, this painting features the boardwalk in the wooded area, and a barred owl, a bird that can actually be seen in the park. On a personal level, I am very attached to the park because they gave me the opportunity to have my solo show in the Innis house last fall. I had several of my landscapes in the show, and the reception was well attended, thanks to the terrific support from the staff and the patrons. Can't wait for the fall colors to be back, that's my favorite season in any park! "See You Soon" will be in the show "Reflexion from the WAAL", the fall show for Worthington Area Art League Me...

  "Triad at Three Creeks Metro Park" 12"x12" Oil on masonite panel On Thursday we had another thunder-stormy and very wet day on our Plein Air outing. (At this point we look at each other and laugh "It must be Thursday!" lol)  The challenge of the day was to create a painting with a specific color scheme, and here is my painting using of a triadic color scheme: red orange, blue-violet, and yellow-green. Great exercise! Thanks Joe Lombardo for the inspiration!  To lift our spiri ts up, we were joined by a lively and excited group of graduates that were celebrating their academic successes under the same shelter that was keeping us dry.  The sun came out, and I made it out of there before a football hit my easel, and without getting soaked by water weapons. Another success story! wewwww!

"Sun & Snow" 9"x12" Oil on panel Sold I've had  this reference photo for a while, and always wanted to paint it, but I was always afraid of the challenging subject. Snow is not easy to paint, and all those trees can surely risk to look naive once painted. I've been pulling up the photo to paint it, only to postpone it for a while, each time. I finally found the courage, and here is is. For better or for worse: Sun and Snow. And I have to admit, I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I tried to use no pure white to represent the snow, and made the trees impressionistic. I like it. : )  (Phewww)

"A Stroke of Spring" Oil on masonite board Ready to pop into a 9"x12" frame Available Spring seemed to come and go this year in Oh io .  A few days of warmth, and nature was rejoicing, tender green leaves were sprouting everywhere.  Then winter seemed to come back, and it got freezing cold again, like on this c-c-cold day when I painted at Pickerington Ponds Metro Park.  But the signs of spring were there to cheer me up , and I enjo ed every minute of it. : )

6"x6" Oil painting Still untitled Today was the first day of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge! Luckily enough I had a great plein air class scheduled for today, so I got to get out with a group of talented and like-minded artists and enjoy a great day of painting outdoors.  Our teacher is the amazing Joe Lombardo.  Here is a photo of the group watching Joe's demo at Three Creeks Metro Park in Groveport, OH.